The Apostate : The Oath of Vengeance
by Elaine Leitor
Summary: Altheia. Former Princess of Lybia, daughter of Lamia. She has returned... by an unknown, powerful force.


**(Disclaimers : The writer is not a native English speaker.)**

**(You have to read The Son of Magic written by Haley Riordan to comprehend the story.)**

Lamia held the sword against the candlelight. It was beautiful. The hilt was decorated with gold and invaluable jewels. The blade was Celestial bronze, etched with glowing words of power. It was a fine sword - well balanced, deadly sharp, and absolutely faultless. The sword was forged by herself - Lamia, the powerful queen of Libya, daughter of Hecate, and most importantly, the secret lover of the mighty Zeus.

It was five days before her son Demetrius's tenth birthday. He was her successor to the throne, and deserved this gift - the undoubtedly finest sword in Libya's history.

A cough from the hall broke the silence of the dead of night. Puzzled, Lamia got off from bed and opened the door. She found a brown haired girl working on her sculpture and frowned.

"My gods, Altheia. It's the middle of the night! I had told you to go to sleep."

Her daughter stifled a yawn and mumbled.

"Sorry, mother. But I had to finish the eyes when I had the chance. I'm almost done..."

Altheia was sixteen. She wanted to be an artist, and her skills were already above those of the kingdom's finest sculptors. It was even said that her daughter's skills rivaled even those of Athena. She was sculpting Demetrius as a birthday gift for him.

"Okay, then-"

Just as Lamia started to speak, she felt a sudden chill down her spine and stopped. Altheia must have felt it too - she sprang up with an alarmed look on her face.

"Mother, what was that?" Altheia whispered, her green eyes wide. "That presence - was it some kind of magic?"

No, it wasn't. Altheia was at least sure of that.

It felt more like a divine force-

"Demetrius!" Lamia gasped. She bolted to Demetrius's bedroom and swung the door open. Nothing was wrong. Her son was curled up and snoring pleasantly. Lamia sighed and turned around.

"So, you must be Lamia."

Before she could even comprehend the situation, she was flung to the wall by an invisible force. Dazed, she looked up, and found a stern looking woman glaring at her.

"Hera," Lamia croaked.

Hera bared her teeth.

"You have been fully aware of my wrath, I see. But you still thought you could hide your secret relationship with my husband from me forever?"

Hera turned to Demetrius, who was now wide awake and watching in horror.

"Ha! And a child," Hera shrieked. "How cute."

She outstretched her arm toward Demetrius, and her fingertips began to glow brilliantly. Desperate, Lamia opened her mouth to cast the incantation of protection, but no sound came out. Her voice was already silenced by the power of the goddess.

There was a sudden blast of blue light, and Hera was flung across the hall. Lamia felt the binding of her voice being lifted, and muttered a quick spell. Demetrius reappeared next to her.

Hera's attacker was Altheia. Her hands were glowing with electric sparks. She looked deathly pale, as she knew she had just blasted a goddess.

Hera slowly rose to her feet. Her face red with anger, she raved. "Another child?! And this one seems at least fifteen! Zeus, you are going to pay for this too!"

The palace shook violently. Lamia clenched her teeth. Even if she succeeded in teleporting with her children, the enemy was an Olympian goddess with a throne. She would simply follow and kill them. The chance of survival seemed impossible.

"Zeus," Lamia whispered, "help us, please."

But of course there was no answer from heaven.

A long spear appeared in Hera's hand. Lamia cast an incantation of protection, but the divine weapon ripped through the magical shield and impaled through her belly.

Lamia gasped and collapsed. Demetrius cried out in alarm and try to help her up, only to be grabbed by Hera in the back of his neck.

"See this, Lamia?" Hera growled. Her hands began to glow blazing red. Demetrius let out a bloodcurdling scream and thrashed. Lamia tried to cast a spell, but she could not concentrate - she was quickly losing blood. Altheia struck another lightning at the goddess, but this time the bolt of energy bounced off Hera harmlessly.

"You should have known better than to fornicate the husband of the goddess of marriage, queen of gods!"

The red glow in her hands turned blazing white hot. Demetrius shrieked, his neck steaming. Winds blew insanely hard, destroying the furniture and sculptures in the hall. The candles went out. A blast of wind exploded from Demetrius, making Hera stagger and curse. A golden sword appeared in her hand - Lamia's eyes widened, for it was the sword she had forged for her son - and Hera drove the sword straight into the heart of the prince.

The raging storm stopped abruptly. With the sword impaled through his chest, Demetrius collapsed limp to the floor.

Lamia screamed, pulled out the spear from her bloody stomach, and charged. Hera dematerialized and reappeared behind her, and whispered.

"I killed your son, but death won't be enough for you."

Lamia's body began to change. She started to grow in size. Her nails turned into lizardlike claws, and scales covered her skin. Lamia shrieked in agony. Hera laughed coldly and covered Lamia's eyes with her hand.

"You shall never close your eyes again. You will always be haunted by the image of your children's death."

Pain also seized her eyes. Lamia staggered.

"And," Hera continued, "you will lose your soul."

Bright light filled the room, and Lamia collapsed. She felt empty. Sickeningly hollow.

Hera grabbed the spear from Lamia's hand and swung it. The blade ripped through her neck. Her head dropped to the floor. She should have been killed immediately, but no, she could still see and feel everything even through the terrible agony. Lamia realized she was not human anymore - losing her soul, it meant that she was now a monster.

"Bye, Lamia. Enjoy yourself in Tartarus."

She saw Hera, with a smug look on her face, turn to Altheia, who was sobbing with grief and horror. She was holding the sword pulled out from her brother's carcass.

"I will avenge you, mother," Altheia screamed. "I swear it on the River Styx!"

Hera laughed hysterically. "No, you won't. You'll die on this very spot."

Altheia raised the sword and charged, the blade glowing with electric energy. Just before the blade touched the goddess, an explosion of white light knocked Altheia to the floor. Before Altheia could stand up, a blast of red light filled the hall, and Altheia vanished. Tears filled Lamia's eyes.

Now Lamia couldn't see anything. She was dissolving - her essence was being blown off to Tartarus.

From far away, she heard Hera yell. Was it a cry of triumph? Lamia didn't know.

Demetrius...

Altheia...


End file.
